Testimony in the impeachment inquiry has indicated the Ukrainians didn’t want a transcript of the call to be released in the United States either. “The United States gave the Ukrainians virtually no notice of the release, and they were livid,” U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor said in a statement in October, referring to the September 25 release of the White House’s partial transcript of the call.
A senior Ukrainian official previously told CBS News the White House sought the Ukrainian government’s approval to publish its summary of the call but went ahead and released it before Ukraine responded.
“The transcript was released before President Zelensky agreed to it,” said the Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
That runs counter to a claim made by President Trump, who said in a tweet September 24 that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo received permission from the Ukraine government “to release the transcript of the telephone call I had with their President.”
Ukraine’s foreign minister said this week – amid impeachment hearings – that his country doesn’t want to be involved in the political drama in the U.S. Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said the last thing Ukraine needs is to be involved in “problems at the other end of the world” while dealing with its war with Russia-backed separatists, The Associated Press reported.
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Article URL : https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraines-president-denies-request-to-release-trump-call-records/